Data Science Major

Data Science Faculty: Anny-Claude Joseph (MATH), Eni Mustafaraj (CS), Casey Pattanayak (MATH/QR), Wendy Wang (MATH), Jeremy Wilmer (PSYC), Yaniv Yacoby (CS)

Data Science Director: Casey Pattanayak (MATH/QR)

The Data Science major consists of ten (10) courses plus either a 0.5 credit capstone course (DS 340H) or a senior honors thesis. A student can begin the major requirements in the first or second year. Students are encouraged to explore the field of data science by taking an introductory computer science course and an introductory statistics course as early as possible. They can take MATH 115 and/or MATH 116 in their first year as prerequisites for MATH 205, if needed.

The following courses must be taken at Wellesley: CS 230; at least one of STAT 260 or STAT 318; at least one 300-level course in computer science; at least one 300-level course in statistics (such as STAT 318); and either DS 340H or DS 360 & DS 370. The advanced machine learning course must be taken at either Wellesley or MIT. Only one course may be counted from an institution other than Wellesley, MIT, Babson, or Olin, such as a study abroad institution, with prior approval from a major advisor. This course must transfer back as at least 0.8 credits, in which case the 10.5 total courses required for DS major is reduced to 10.3.

Goals of the major:

Data Science lies at the intersection of computer science, mathematics, and statistics. A student pursuing a major in Data Science will develop a strong foundation in all three areas and complete coursework that emphasizes the integration of the three. Students will graduate with the critical thinking needed to pose and refine questions that can be answered with data in an ethical way; the statistical skills needed to draw meaning from data appropriately; the computational skills needed to tackle practical data challenges; and the ability to collaborate, communicate, and critique in the context of modern data.

Major requirements:

  1. Eight (8) foundational courses:

If a student places out of CS 111, they must choose an additional CS elective, as listed in (2). If a student places out of MATH 205 or MATH 206, they must choose an additional MATH elective in consultation with an advisor, usually MATH 220/STAT 220 or MATH 225. If a student substitutes a Quantitative Analysis Institute Summer Program Certificate for QR 260/STAT 260, they must choose an additional STAT elective, as listed in (2). After any such substitutions, the total number of courses for the data science major must be at least ten plus the capstone or thesis.

  1. Two (2) electives, including one from statistics and one from computer science, usually chosen from the following list. See course descriptions for prerequisites. Note that some CS electives require MATH 225, which does not count toward the data science major.

3. Either the data science major capstone course DS 340H (0.5 credits) or a senior honors thesis (DS 360 & DS 370). DS 340H must be taken at Wellesley. Students will be assigned to enroll in DS 340H during a particular semester within their last year. Prior to enrolling in DS 340H, students must have completed (a) QR 260/STAT 260, STAT 318, or the QAI Summer Program, and (b) a 300-level CS course that counts toward data science. Students should work with their advisors to create a course plan that allows them to meet these prerequisites.

Honors

A student may achieve honors by writing a thesis, if the student’s GPA in major courses over the 100-level meets the college’s requirements. See Academic Distinctions.

Further information:

Transition from previously approved individual structured major in Data Science: Students entering in Fall 2023 or later will complete the 10.5-unit major in Data Science rather than the previous individual structured major. Any student who entered before Fall 2023 but did not have an individual major proposal approved before Fall 2023 will complete the 10.5-unit major. Students whose proposals for individual structured majors in data science were approved prior to Fall 2023 may either complete their planned individual major sequences or speak to their advisors about shifting to the 10.5-unit major. Changing from an approved individual major to the 10.5-unit major requires the approval of the Data Science Director.

Current rules about courses taken elsewhere and transfer credits apply to students entering in Fall 2023 or later.

A data science major may not minor in Statistics. Students should speak with their advisors if interested in a second major or a minor with requirements that overlap with the data science requirements, because the college does not allow any course to count toward two majors or a minor and a major. Typically, such students choose an extra elective to count toward one major/minor, with advisor approval.

Further information on the data science major is available on the intranet site, including guidance on cross-registration.